Internship Feedback

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Bachelor Dominik Hanus, Brno University of Technology,

ročník 5

About the country

Location of the place

Poland is one of our the closest countries. I knew the background and basic info about the country already before my arrival. However I have never been in west-central Poland (Greater Poland Voivodeship). It is second in area and third in population among Poland's sixteen voivodeships. Its capital city is Poznan, where I was during my internship.

City

I was studying in Vienna, and I am not afraid to say, Poznaň is sort of comparable to Vienna. Poznań has often topped rankings as a city with very high quality of education. the standard of living is on high level. The official patron saints of Poznań are Saint Peter and Paul of Tarsus

Surroundings (possible trips, ...)

Even though it is quite a big city there is still many parks and things what to do. Poznan town hall called Ratusz with main façade with arcade loggia is located directly on the Old square market. Together wirt the display of mechanical fighting goats, played out daily at noon above the clock on the front wall of the building, is one of the most popular tourist spot in the city. There is the brewery called Stary Browar. It is producing one of the most famous beer in Poland - Lech.

Employer

Company PERI is one of the biggest in field of scaffolding and formwork. PERI was founded in 1969 in Weißenhorn, Germany, by Artur Schwörer. All my collegues were open-minded. I was working in the office most of the time but as well regularly I was visiting building construction to get know the system from different point of view.

Work description

- Designing the project’s basic elements
- Visiting at a construction site in order to familiarise with ceiling and wall form-work usage
- Using computer’s software and acquisition of the essential knowledge about form works and scaffolding
- Counting square metres and elements

Salary (sufficient for local conditions?)

Salary was not fully sufficient for local conditions. However, it was not my the most important condition to participate in the program. The salary almost covered all my expenses such as food, accommodation and travel costs from office to my room.

Language requirements

Speaking of that we were speaking just English at the beginning of internship, however then they just realised I speak polish as well. At the end i was almost fluent in polish. I would say at least basic of polish is necessary to communicate with stuff in shops and so on...

Accommodation (price, who provided it)

The price for 3-bed room is around 330 złoty and it has to be paid by cash. It was provided it by Iaeste org. However I did not know the quality of my room before I signed the agreement. Next time i would try to find any flat or share-flat by myself. There were shared kitchen

Social life

Meeting IAESTE members (pick-up at the airport, organized events...)

I was picked up at the main bus station according to the plan. Poznan is quite small city, it is not even difficult to get at your place just by yourself. My "buddy" was helpful and kind to give me hand anytime. I would appreciate more student's events etc.

Meeting other foreign students

I was living at the same dormitory, thus I met them every day. We were having party and social life all the time. There were many students from Brazil, Argetina, China, Germany. I have tried many different foods, we were having dinner together...

Sport and culture

In the areal of my living there were many opportunities to do sport. There were a Football pitch, basketball playground and so on. You could join many students group in the city. In the parks during weekends there are still many people doing various stuff.

Food, local specialties

I was living really close to the city centre to stop by there at any time. Polish cuisine is very eclectic due to Poland's history. There are many many similarities with other Slavic countries, especially neighbours Czech and Slovak because of that I was not so surprise during my stay. The Polish national dishes are bigos, pierogi, kiełbasa and kotlet schabowy or smooked cheese. Polish cuisine uses a lot of cream and eggs

Other information

Possibilites to communicate with the Czech Republic

By skype or even invite them to come at my place. Of course you need anything you could send it via post.

Recommendations for students who will go to the same place

I do not have any recommendations, just I would wish you good luck and enjoy the time spend there, cause it is really nice place. Maybe just try to enjoy it on 100 % cause time is running really fast and try to look at any websites with offers about accommodation. Set up a polish bank account or ask employer to give you salary by cash cause it could a little bit more time to get money than i would expect.

What not to forget with you

Nothing, you could buy there anything what you need. Everything is really cheap, especially food.

Benefits of the internship

International experience and useful business contacts. Thanks to globalisation and my abroad experiences it is gonna be so much easier for me to find a job, cause many companies look for international experience as they expand overseas operations, enter new markets, or develop international partnerships. I have improved all of those characters: independent, self-reliant, adaptable, open-minded, patient and tolerant.

Cooperation with IAESTE in the foreign country

I can not complain. Everything was really smooth and without any problems, howvere I have heard that many students who were paid by companies vie Iaeste bank account had to wait more than 2 months to get their money.